Reader Mark Storer writes:
My thanks to you for the Fallen Heroes website link. On it, I was able to look up one of my heroes, a former student of mine when I first entered teaching. His name was Michael DiRaimondo and he was from Simi Valley, CA. Mike was aboard a blackhawk that took fire and crashed near Fallujah last January.
Through the website, I was able to contact Mike’s parents, post a message in memory of him and have about a 20 minute cry that took me by sudden surprise. I learned of his scholarship foundation established by his dear parents that establishes scholarships for young people who wish to pursue becoming paramedics but lack the funds to do so. Even in death, Michael is giving–and helping give this world more lifesavers.
This war is taking some of our very best young people, as wars must do. We must not let their deaths go by without knowing and fully embracing these young men and women.
As Mike’s former teacher, I grieve so much at the loss of a young man who I remembered because of his real desire to learn and to know. I’d known on the periphery that he joined the army, but I didn’t know he’d followed a passion in his life to be a medic, a lifesaver–and ultimately, a hero.
Thanks for the site. I’ll be visiting it more to learn about the heroes I don’t know.
May God grant us all Peace.
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